Suspect named in hit-and-run crash that killed family

Mar. 4, 2013
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A crowd gathered in front of the Brooklyn, N.Y., synagogue where funeral services were held Sunday for expectant parents Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. The two were killed during the weekend in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamburg. Their baby boy, born prematurely, died early Monday, WCBS reported. / Verena Dobnik, AP

by Alex Taylor, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Alex Taylor, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

MONSEY, N.Y. â?? Police on Monday identified a suspect being sought in the Brooklyn hit-and-run deaths of a man, his pregnant wife and the baby she carried.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said police are looking for Julio Acevedo, 44, who he said had a DWI arrest last month. Acevedo was going at least 60 mph when the car slammed into the cab carrying the couple to a hospital, police said.

The baby, delivered after parents Nachman and Raizy Glauber were killed in the crash, died Monday, a spokesman for the religious community said.

Isaac Abraham, spokesman for the family's Orthodox Jewish community, said the boy will be named and circumcised following religious traditions. He had initially been listed in serious condition hours after Saturday's accident, Abraham said. Neighbors and friends said the boy weighed only about 4 pounds.

Police have been searching for the driver of a BMW and a passenger who fled the scene of the accident early Sunday. Abraham said the driver should be charged with murder of the parents and the baby.

"It is of upmost importance that the driver be charged with a triple homicide when he's caught," Abraham said. "And nothing less."

The Hasidic couple, both 21, were mourned Sunday afternoon by more than 1,000 people. Abraham said the family and community had hoped the baby would survive.

"We had our prayers, as much as we could, that the child stay alive and carry on the name and bring a little joy to the grandparents as he grows," Abraham said. "That didn't happen."

The community reaction to the baby's death, he said, is sadness. People should cherish their loved ones every day because one never knows what can happen, he said.

Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, was en route to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well when a BMW crashed into their vehicle in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Abraham said..

Their son was delivered by cesarean section at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan, where Raizy Glauber was pronounced dead, Abraham said. Nachman Glauber was pronounced dead at Beth Israel Hospital.

The Glaubers' livery cab driver was treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital. Police said the registered owner of the BMW, who was not in the car, was charged with insurance fraud. Police said Takia Walk, 29, was arrested Sunday. They did not have any details regarding the charge.

The Glaubers were married about a year ago and had begun a life together in Williamsburg, where Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbinical family, Sara Glauber said.

Raised north of New York City in Monsey, N.Y., and part of a family that founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews, Nachman Glauber was studying at a rabbinical college nearby, said his cousin.

Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. The community has strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world. Men wear dark clothing that includes a long coat and a fedora-type hat and often have long beards and ear locks.

The Glaubers were married about a year ago and had begun a life together in Williamsburg, where Raizy Glauber grew up in a high-profile Orthodox Jewish rabbinical family, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber's cousin.

Nachman Glauber, raised in Monsey and part of a family that founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews, was studying at a rabbinical college nearby, his cousin said.

Abraham called the couple's death a "tragedy beyond (belief) just coming off a joyous holiday as Purim."